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It is a story our support team hears too often: “my computer crashed and I lost my TradeLog files”. We cringe when we hear this because we know the answer to our next question is often not positive: did you keep a backup of your files?

More and more people have been tapping into their IRAs in order to finance trading and investment plans. There are a number of companies now promoting structures such as “Self-Directed IRA-Owned LLC” or “Custodian IRA-Owned Trusts”. While those companies may provide online education to support these structures, leading trader tax CPAs and attorneys do not always agree with their conclusions.

In a recent webinar with active traders we did a poll and 97% who responded had situations where the 1099-B may not be complete in wash sale reporting. Often this is because the trader has more than one taxable account, or an IRA account, or he trades option contracts. At the root of the problem are differing wash sale rules that the IRS has for 1099-B and for taxpayers. What are the differences and why is the 1099-B often worthless as a result?

A vital principle in financial accounting is the importance of verifiable and objective reporting. A major problem with the 1099-B is that it fails to provide verifiable reporting. The 1099-B provides subjective information with limited details. For this reason the 1099-B if often useless to active traders and their CPAs. Why do we say the 1099-B is not verifiable?

Armen Computing, the makers of TradeLog Software, has published a special report entitled The 1099-B Problem: Why IRS Regulations Have Failed to Meet Cost Basis Reporting Needs. The 25-page report is available as a free e-book download. Why did we publish this report? What is the purpose? To appreciate the answers to those questions let me provide some background about cost basis reporting and the 1099-B.

Many TradeLog users would like to file their taxes with popular programs like TaxACT® or TurboTax®. Of course you likely know that those programs, on their own, often cannot handle Form 8949 reporting for active traders. That is why you use TradeLog! But how do you e-file with TaxACT® or TurboTax® and use your TradeLog generated Form 8949?

Traders of option contracts sometimes overlook adjustments that need to be made for accurate tax reporting. TradeLog can make these adjustments easier with a few important functions. Here are three tips for option traders:

Each year during tax time the TradeLog support team sees reports of greater difficulty using brokerconnect for importing trade history from certain brokers. Oftentimes the problems are a result of heavy traffic on the broker’s servers or the size of the data download. Because of these reasons there may not be much that can be done to resolve the problem, other than to try again later. But here is a tip that may help you if you experience brokerconnect difficulty…

Some major brokers have taken a troubling position in the way they report wash sales on the 1099-B for short sales. This caused big problems when taxpayers tried to reconcile and understand their 2011 1099-B reports. But it appears some brokers continue to use this baffling and incorrect method, which will cause more tax reporting problems for 2012 tax year.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are becoming more and more popular. Did you know that ETF options can have special tax handling? Some of these options qualify as section 1256 contracts. Under Section 1256 the gains and losses are treated as 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains/losses, regardless of the holding period. What qualifies an ETF option as Section 1256 depends on it's structure and whether the option is listed or over-the-counter.